Main Menu

Twist Collective Blog

Quick Dispatch: Paris Outtake

We hope you think our newest issue was worth the wait. We had a great time putting it together. Paris wasn't too bad either.

Twist Style Friday: TRIPLE Feature: Uji, Burrard, and Fitting

Details

Published on Friday, 12 April 2013 08:35

Every Friday we feature one of the garments from the magazine in a post about styling. We suggest different ways to wear the garment in question using mock-ups from Polyvore. We encourage readers to tell us what they think about these outfits via our Facebook page or Twitter, and if folks want to make their own outfits, please tweet them at us with the hashtag #twiststyle. You can find all of the Style Friday posts here.

Happy Friday everyone! This is our last style post before the next issue launches- it's a mega-post! Three lovely garments! You should be really excited. I won't even be mad if you are more excited about the knowledge that our Spring launch is imminent than the outfits I'm about to show you.

These garments are amazing. You might already know that I love this jacket- like squishy wearable waffles.

Yum. This next one too, is a little bit blankety, but with a trimmer silhouette and just a smidge of a shawl collar.

I have to retract my proclamation that winter is over since my last post. This is hard for me; I am extremely stubborn. Today I was walking around the trendy Roncesvalles neighborhood in west Toronto, keeping my eyes peeled for "for rent" signs (looking for apartments in this town is a crummy task, fyi), and pellets of ice were raining down on me. There is snow on the ground, and there may be more tomorrow. April is a cruel mistress. I came home and stubbornly ate ice cream while listening to the radio, and I haven't quite stopped shivering. I feel better just looking at these scrumptious sweaters.

Let's start with Fitting. I went with unadulterated girly on this one. You could also wear this more casually, with jeans or whatever. I think this sweater does the same thing to an outfit as a blazer does- makes you look fancier and more put-together- but without the masculine edge of a blazer. It's so pretty. Those textured columns are so lovely.

Next up, the lovely Burrard. In the middle outfit, I definitely went full on hot librarian. You can also toss this darling over a summer dress when the evening is chilly, or add a softer, nerdier element to a harder-edged outfit, like the one on the left. It's fun to dress as all the parts of yourself at once. At this very moment, I am wearing my boyfriend's plaid shirt and sparkly nail polish. So there's that.

Uji was really fun to style because the coat is a pretty major element, and although it is visually stunning with all that honeycomb texture, those pockets, and the generous collar, I felt as though it was my responsibility to provide a counterpoint to all that beige. Patent and studs and prints and acid brights!

I would love to know how you would wear Uji, Burrard, and Fitting. And I can't wait to start playing with our spring garments!!!!

Quick Dispatch: a last look at winter

Details

Published on Wednesday, 10 April 2013 07:20

I know you all are dreaming of spring as much as I am, and we are so excited to show you our next issue.

But don't you feel just a little bit wistful about the passing of winter? The season, I mean. Cool mornings, handknit accessories, snuggling, cozy blankets, rosy cheeks! Winter is pretty wonderful, isn't it?

I thought while we're all waiting anxiously for buds to bloom, it might be nice to take one more long look at some behind the scenes shot from our Winter issue.

Savor the end of the season! The next one is imminent.

Twist Style Friday Double Feature: Whirlpool and Lavandula

Details

Published on Friday, 05 April 2013 10:14

Every Friday we feature one of the garments from the magazine in a post about styling. We suggest different ways to wear the garment in question using mock-ups from Polyvore. We encourage readers to tell us what they think about these outfits via our Facebook page or Twitter, and if folks want to make their own outfits, please tweet them at us with the hashtag #twiststyle. You can find all of the Style Friday posts here.

Happy Friday, fashion friends! Despite the chilly weather we are having this week in Toronto, I have decided that winter is over. I have put away my winter coat, and even my sort of fake winter coat. I still wear wooly handknit accessories most days, but the decision has been made. I'm also back to biking, although yesterday the breeze was awfully chilly on my face coming home from the computer lab. I have been spending most days typing and being grumpy about it lately. I think I need to dress extremely cute today if I want to set myself up for scholastic success.

We're doing a double feature this week because we have more clothes to play with than we have weeks left before the launch of the spring issue (!!!!). I can't be exact about the date, because I am both sneaky and not in charge. Today's completely accidental theme seems to be this; when in doubt, take a hot pink purse.

First up, a seriously adorable vest. You know her as Whirlpool. Graphic and neutral; square and round; elegant and cute. You can wear her lots of different ways.

I just love that pattern! I am afraid of colorwork, because I can never figure out how to manage long floats. This pretty lady you see here- no long floats!I'll even show you what I mean. This is a knitted thing I am pretty proud of, because I charted it myself, and it was a commission from lovely and talented friends. Leah and Corey. You've seen Corey before. Remember this?

If you clicked that link on her name, you saw her lovely logo which says "Corinna Rose" in some awfully lovely font. For an EP she made with Leah, who plays the autoharp and knits like a boss, I knitted it! Be excited for me, but also check out those visible floats! Yikes.

Anyways, back to the topic at hand. Let's take a look at some outfits featuring Whirlpool.

I used to have an eggplant colored leather pencil skirt just like that one. I found it at a thrift store years ago. I think i gave it away at a clothing swap a few years later. I swap things pretty often, because my body fluctuates in size pretty often, and I can't afford to just buy new stuff all the time! Plus i often buy and wear hilarious things that I get bored with after a few seasons. Swapping with friends is a great way to keep wonderful things in circulation, and if the friend is nice enough, you can sometimes ask for them back if you have pangs of regret. Too bad I can't get that skirt back!

The other garment I'm playing with today is Lavandula. What a pretty little cardigan.

Can you believe that Twist will be turning 5 this summer? And one of the companies who have supported them since the very first issue is Green Mountain Spinnery.

Working as a knitwear design you tend to build links to the yarn companies whose products you use, some of these links become very strong and can develop into personal connections as well as business ones. But one of the unexpected connections that working for Twist Collective has provided is a shared experience between fellow designers and the GMS yarn company.

GMS organize a knitter’s retreat twice a year and in 2011 I was thrilled to be invited to teach at the Fall retreat. I had a wonderful time and it was really fabulous to be able to get to know the people who run the business - it’s a co-operative. Since then, whenever we have chance, we get together at knitting events over dinner or a beer to catch up. In January hanging out at Vogue Knitting Live in New York I discovered that several of the designers whose work is featured in Twist have taught at the retreats. We form a kind of alumni group. So I thought it might be fun to see what memories each of us have of the GMS retreats.

First I asked Kate Gilbert, the creative force behind Twist, when she taught at GMS - she has been there twice.She said she remembers how delicious the food was, and how lovely the knitters were. Her memories were great ones, although it rained both times she was there. Kate’s daughter was quite little so both her mom and dad came along too to help out with child-care. The event certainly does have a family feel about it. She also said that touring the spinnery was awesome. Kate's snuggly Halliard is made with GMS yarn; here she is wearing it!

Gudrun Johnston taught at the Spring retreat she had this to say: “My first interactions with the lovely folks at Green Mountain Spinnery took place a few years ago when they invited me to be their guest teacher at theirannual Sugar Retreat. I hadn't really done any teaching at this point, let alone be the featured teacher so I was more than honored to be asked, and I'll admit a little scared too! However the whole experience was above and beyond my expectations. They are such a down to earth and friendly bunch, great to work and play with!”Gudrun has designed many lovely Twist patterns- here she is wearing one of them.

This was her response when I asked her about them: “I've been a fan of Green Mountain Spinnery Yarns since I moved to Maine and started knitting in earnest. Their Mountain Mohair was my heartthrob to-die-for absolute favorite yarn. I love it to this day, so it was a great treat to be invited teach at their annual spring retreat. Held in an antique B&B with fun and relaxation as the main program, knitting as the delivery vehicle. Hostesses with the mostesses Maureen and Eric are there for you for your entire weekend – it is a grand time for all. The group of avid knitters come from all over, guaranteeing an interesting and diverse mix! Don't miss a visit to the mill!!!! And watch out for the door that isn't an exit!”

The year I (Fiona) taught it was the weekend just before Halloween and I was looking forward to a classic New England Fall weekend of maple leaves, dappled sunlight and maybe the smell of wood burning stores. But what we got instead was a huge very early snowstorm, power outages and pioneer spirit. I ended up teaching without electricity on the Sunday but fortunately somebody braved the barely impassable streets to find somewhere that was open and serving coffee.

It was also the weekend that Eric (one of the co-owners) & I came up with “The Human Cable” as a way of demonstrating a 5 stitch cable cross.

That is Margaret in the yellow sweater. Arrangements for a mobile pizza kitchen for dinner on Sat eve was a great idea when you were expecting a traditional fall day…but it began snowing mid afternoon.

I have used GMS yarns for two of the projects that I have created for Twist-- Gwendolyn and Harriet. Here is Eric (from the spinnery) in her cardiagnized version of Harriet.

Alison Will Green taught Math for Knitters, where she goes into the calculations used when designing sweaters and talks about how knitters can alter patterns to fit their bodies or styles better. She also taught a class on Continental Knitting. She said: “The students were great - a very wide range of skill levels but I think I was able to offer something for everyone and we all had a great time. Some had driven quite a long way to get there. Vermont is so beautiful, especially at that time of year, and I really love the Green Mountain Spinnery people. They were so welcoming and helpful.”

Here is a photo of Margaret (one of the co-owners) in her Jaali made with Sylvan Spirit. Alison saw her knitting it, and then wearing it, at Rhinebeck.

Alison closed with this: I do love that company. Hmmm... this makes me want to work with their yarns again...